Long story but we just acquired an awesome 1958 Dodge D100 from a real good friend and his family. Their dad built this truck and since his passing it has been mostly in storage. I am trying to plan my next few steps to finish it up and one of the items needing attention is the bed wood. It looks very “dry” to me and I figured some of you good folks might have some suggestions how to preserve and enhance the wood. Any suggestions?
To make sure you don't make a mistake, I'd want to confirm what is currently on the wood. This could be linseed oil or another oil based coating, a lacquer (it doesn't look like that), a urethane or a catalyzed clear. Obviously some of these will not mix well with others, so ID is first unless you want to completely strip and redo. I'd look for local furniture and/or woodworking shops and have them take a look. Nice truck, BTW!
Linseed oil isnt going to hurt anything. what is on there? a oil or a polyurithane/plastic , is it peeling flaking off? Looks like they useda stain 'cause the grain is darkened.... Like they used a oil stain like a Danish oil stain
Nice truck, nice enough that those boards won't be hard to remove and sand them down. I just refinished the entry doors on my home. They looked about the same as your bed wood, dry and if left alone, they would begin to deteriorate. I sanded them down to bare wood, stained them and varnished them. Your wood is easier since it is all flat and there are no raised panels and windows. Sand them down and refinish them and make sure the bottoms and sides are done as well. A nice truck deserves the attention.
Thanks guys. The truck will be in my heated garage for winter anyway so it shouldn’t deteriorate much. I will wait till I get the build book from the family and see if there is any info about the floor in there. The family might know as well so I will ask. When I get it up on stands I will check out how accessible the bolts are….big gas tank in the back might be in the way….but I might need to drop it down to fix the gas gauge. Snowball effect! Not sure what is on there now but I know the truck has never been outside in bad weather since it was built.
Looks water stained. Moisture has got trapped in the grain at some point. The surface needs to be sanded back to get to fresh wood the refinished. Only way to do this properly is to remove it from the truck. Oil will preserve what you have got but it won't improve it cosmetically.
Gizmo, would oil then pose an issue for future refinishing? I ask this because I am not very knowledgeable about wood finishing for outdoor use. I appreciate learning from folks who know. Cheers
If you decide to go with the linseed oil treatment, remember to discard the oily rags in a Ziplock bag filled with water. Spontaneous Combustion is Very Real with Linseed Oil!
I'd suggest using Teak Oil. It's a great satin finish for wood, with good weather resistance. One caveat - refinish the boards OUTSIDE. This stuff reeks while drying. A couple coats ought to do fine.
Just a final follow-up to this. I removed the wood, stripped it with paint stripper, had a good friend use a drum sander to remove all of the old varnish and level it up, final sand with 180 grit, stain with Minwax Early American oil stain, 4 coats of Helmsman Spar Varnish by Minwax sanding with 220 grit between coats. I am very happy with the results plus a new fuel pump module so my fuel gauge works. Cheers!
Thanks…I am not used to having shiny stuff in my garage (other than my wife’s ot tbird) so I will be using my daily driver for that rough stuff. This “new to me” truck is pretty shiny everywhere haha.
Glad you got the results you like and thanks for sharing the process and products. With a ride that snazzy, you are going to have to step up your wardrobe!
I just saw this and I was going to suggest Helmsman Spar Urethane, the product is designed for exterior wood, it turned out great! HRP
I was looking for some gold chains around the house but all I can find is fools gold haha! I figure if people on the forum are gracious enough to give some guidance and advice it is the least I can do to come back and give an update. Thanks all!
I did the same using satin Helmsman Spar, it has held up very well for 6 years and counting. Every year it gets a coat of wax to give the finish added moisture and UV Protection.
That was during the install, it’s been exposed to rain too many times to count, snow a couple times and plenty of sun. Here, how it looks now…
I started out with gloss and felt it was too shiny so the final few coats are done with satin. There are a lot of coats on the wood, sanded every other coat. You can see the grain but you can’t feel it.
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